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Arena Contact Person Phone Hoyt Lakes Tom Ferris (218) 225-2226 Hodgins Berardo (Coleraine) Pat Guyer (218) 245-3525 West St. Paul Dave Malay (612) 552-4155 Farmington Civic Arena Jim Bell (612) 463-1851 Bud King (Winona) Bob Monstrose (507) 454-7775 Cottage Grove Arena Dean Mulso (612) 458-2846 Desiccant Dehumidification Elevated relative humidity in ice arenas negatively affects skaters, spectators, and building components. High humidity is typically uncomfortable for skaters and spectators and can result in the formation of fog over the ice which restricts visibility. The humid air also condenses on the cooler building structural components which can cause deterioration of the building and dripping onto the ice surface. Condensation causes steel components to prematurely rust and results in high building maintenance costs through added repairs and repainting. Wet building components also provide growth sites for mold and bacteria. High relative humidity also wastes energy by causing increased condensation on the ice sheet. Extra condensation forces the refrigeration system to work harder to maintain the ice sheet temperature. Without proper ice maintenance, the thickness of the ice sheet will also increase which also increases the refrigeration system's workload. Controlling moisture is essential for arenas which operate for 10 to 11 months a year. The use of conventional direct expansion air conditioning equipment can handle the moisture load for the majority of summer months but at an extremely high energy cost. The use of desiccant dehumidification equipment is ideally suited for high moisture load applications. Desiccant dehumidification systems work by absorbing moisture. These systems primarily use natural gas which can be purchased at a reduced cost in off-peak summer months when they are needed. Installation costs for desiccant dehumidification systems can be high ($150,000 to $300,000) but the addition of the dehumidification systems can result in an extension of the operating season from 7 months to year round operation. Paybacks on dehumidification systems are difficult to determine due to the change in the operating season and must be calculated on an arena by arena basis. Desiccant dehumidification systems are only appropriate for arenas which operate during the summer months. Several arenas in Minnesota that have added desiccant dehumidification systems to extend their operating season are listed below. Arena Contact Person Phone Bloomington Ice Gardens Andy Baltgalvis (612) 948-8842 Cottage Grove Arena Dean Mulso (612) 458-2846 Blake Tom Donahue (612) 988-3825 West St. Paul Dave Malay (612) 552-4155 Hutchinson Civic Arena Marv Haugen (320) 234-4227 Energy Improvements in Minnesota Public Ice Arenas Project Page 13 Center for Energy & Environment